Blue-Black Fox 1911

Franz Marc made 'Blue-Black Fox' using oil on canvas; a traditional medium, yet pushed to expressive extremes. Look at the application of paint. It is neither polished nor illusionistic; Marc wasn't trying to trick you into thinking you are seeing a real fox in a real forest. Instead, he wanted to communicate an emotional reality. The texture of the painting is relatively smooth, but you can still see the marks of the brush, the trace of the artist's hand. The colours themselves are critical. Oil paints gave Marc the capacity to create luminous color, and he used it to full effect. There’s a definite push-pull between representation and abstraction, just like the way the animal is wedged into its habitat, this wasn’t an exercise in naturalism, but rather a kind of spiritual communion. Ultimately, this painting matters because of its materiality, making, and context. It stands as a testament to Marc's desire to collapse the divide between the human and animal worlds, using the craft of painting as his bridge.